PERSPECTIVES IN MINIATURE: FeR Miniatures - Untersturmführer, Ostfront Summer 1942-43

ARTIST STATEMENT

In the words of Wilbur Smith "War is the game played by old men with the lives of the young". The pawn in this game is the combat soldier, represented by the miniature toy soldier; an insignificant being on the battlefield. Combat is the most intense moment of war, where life and death balances on a knife's edge. The results are terrifying and reveal the worst part of our human nature. Conversely, there are moments when it exudes the best of our human spirit. Most of the miniatures you see here are diligently researched from historical sources and handcrafted between scales of 1/35 to 1/16 (approx 50mm to 120mm). The intricate rendition of human expression and fine details not only demonstrates the level of craftsmanship but also serves as a reminder of the fragile nature of human life. I represent no political bias though my miniature creations. My aim is to portray humanity through the chronicles of military history and thus it is my pleasure that I present to you my weblog Perspectives in Miniature.

Calvin Tan

WWII GERMAN UNIFORMS - PERSONAL MIXES BY CALVIN TAN

In conjunction with AK Interactive, this exclusive Gen 3 acrylic paint set is specially composed with the essential colours that I use to render WWII German Uniforms. It contains 18 colours and a small pamphlet with my personal colour mixes. If you are keen to acquire all the colours on my palette to paint a field grey tunic, a splinter pattern zeltbahn, an oak-leaf pattern smock or the Kharkov anorak, look no further, this is the set for you to get started.

CALVIN TAN'S BASIC GUIDE TO FIGURE PAINTING

This instructional DVD published by Model Art magazine was primarily developed for the beginner armour and diorama modeller in mind. The video presentation will feature a variety of easy to master techniques used to render a 1/35 scale plastic injected moulded figure.Topics include proper paint application techniques, choice of brushes as well as some little tricks for painting fine detail. It is fundamentally a showcase of some of my methods and techniques for painting military figures and I am certain it will prove beneficial for any modeller who wishes to improve on figure painting. It is currently available in both Japanese and English.

CALVIN TAN'S GUIDE TO CONVERTING AND PAINTING FIGURES

In this third instalment, I will share my techniques and materials to customize and detail an inexpensive stock plastic figure. Watch as I take you through the steps on how I modify a pose, model details such as hands, belts and webbing and insignias. Learn about working effectively with epoxy putty as well as plastic styrene and paper. As a continuation from my first two DVDs, I will demonstrate how to model and paint a simple groundwork as well as an alternate approach using a monochromatic underpainting to render both a field grey tunic and the World War 2 German Splinter Camouflage pattern on a helmet cover. If you have enjoyed and benefitted from those previous titles, this edition will be a welcome addition to your journey in scale figure modelling – regardless of your current skill level. It is my sincere hope that this could inspire you to embark on your own creative adventure in this fantastic hobby. .

Tuesday, 8 October 2019

FeR Miniatures - Untersturmführer, Ostfront Summer 1942-43

Just as I was about to lay the final strokes on the USMC bust from Young Miniatures, in comes a box art assignment from FER Miniatures courtesy of Fernando Ruiz for two 1/12 scale half figure/busts sculpted by Spanish sculptor Ramon Martinez.

This is probably one of the most exquisite sculpts I have come across in recent years. The sculpting of the drapery on the camouflage smock and the stoic expression is wonderfully captured. While it is not exactly a "recovery" project from the USMC MARPAT camouflage, I decided to ease matters by utilizing the colors composed by Jaume Ortiz in a ready to use set marketed by Vallejo Acrylics (VA) as a spring board.

I find the colors composed by Jaume for the Waffen SS camouflage set from VA be very ideal for painting the Palm Tree pattern as well as the Oak Leaf and Plane Tree patterns. There are two very unique colors in this set, Dark Black Green and SS Middle Brown which are not readily off the rack, which I particularly like. I have also made the switch to using Nevkaya Palitra sable brushes for the painting of this half figure.

The body has a much longer and slender body and has a little spring as you pull the brush across the painted surface. The paint stays wet longer and holds more paint than W&N Series 7 brushes. The Nevkaya sable works remarkably well if you are painting with a higher paint dilution. It is not recommended to work with a heavier body paint as it is not really designed for "pushing" paint due to it's slimmer body. I am however able to pull longer fine lines with Nevkaya sables as compared to the Series 7.

For this project, I devised a new system to ensure that the proportions of the camouflage pattern are accurately mapped to the figure. This involves creating a "pointer" to track the features of the camouflage pattern during the painting process. I initially created one by attaching a length of stretched sprue onto the ferrule of the brush with blue tac.

Needless to say , the Blue Tac and stretched sprue expedient proved to be too flimsy. Thus I fashioned a sturdier one one from a length of plastic rod and bore a hole at its base just large enough to secure it to the ferrule of the brush. I must say that it worked pretty well and it seems that I will be painting like this from this point on (pun intended).